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The political analyst and author also cited a New York Times report published Sunday that said in her call with President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised doubts about Putin being in touch with reality, saying he is “in another world.”

Halperin called it “the scariest thing I’ve seen in the last 24 hours.”

“President [Ronald] Reagan never faced a Soviet leader like this. This guy is ruthless,” Halperin added.

He said he doesn’t think Obama “has a lot of cards to play,” but noted that the president needs to “brief the heck out of Congress to keep them on board,” that the European Union is more or less united and that Obama has to be seen as the leader of a united NATO front.

“I think time is on Putin’s side and the best the president can do is have a unified world coalition and hope Putin blinks,” Halperin said.